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Thursday, July 27, 2006

Investing Online - What You Need To Know First

Are you looking to start investing online? Without the right knowledge and information online investing can be an intimidating experience. However, if you do your research before starting and see what different online brokers offer, you can turn it into a very profitable and rewarding experience. There are several very important tips you need to know before starting to invest online.

The first features you need to look for before you start investing online is trading commissions. Trading expenses can be all over the map when it comes to online brokers. Costs can run anywhere from $4 all the way to $40 and more. If you plan on investing small amounts of money into stocks then you need to make sure your online broker has low trade expenses (under $15) or these costs will eat up all your account balance and any profits.

When choosing where to start investing online you should also be aware of account fees and account minimums. In order to protect any profits that you make you need to make certain that your account has low account maintenance fees, preferably an account with no account maintenance fees. Many online investing companies will charge you anywhere from $15 up to $80 a year just to have an IRA retirement account. However, there are sites that offer free IRA retirement accounts and these are the ones you should go to when opening an online investing account.

Numerous online investment companies also have a set minimum account balances. If you account falls below that minimum balance required, you will get charged a fee. Over time these fees can take your balance down to $0! It is crucial to make certain that the online brokerage company you choose has no minimum account balances.

Quite a few of the larger brokerage companies will charge higher fees because they offer sophisticated investment research tools. These can be great to have, however, most of these tools you will never use. The tools you will need and use can be found at different sites online at no cost. It really is not necessary to pay for the sophisticated research tools, so be sure you are not paying higher fees to have them.

If you do your research prior to opening an investment account online it will make investing much easier and more profitable. There are many advantages to investing online, such as; lower costs, being able to place trades on your own, saving time, and most importantly it will be easier to build your wealth. Just be sure to shop around before you make your decision.